Photo From The Past

My Sunday newspaper has a feature called "pitches from the past" in which readers submit their old photos from the past for publication in the newspaper. I like that very much, given my interest in old things and in the way people behaved in cultures of the recent past. Sunday's picture was of a once famous New Orleans Italian delicatessen/emporeum that started in the French Quarter of the city more than 150 years ago, and finally closed in 1961. It offered a huge grocery store, a liquor shop, a bakery, a candy counter of hand made treats, a lunch counter and many imported Italian foods. I wish I would have gone to Solari's delicatessen at least once in my lifetime, but seeing that photo stirred my imagination anyway.
That picture was taken in 1945, when W.W. II was still raging. (One person is a navy seaman in his dress blues). Even during shortages and the crisis of a great war, there is no evidence in the picture of anything out of the ordinary happening on that day. The photo tells quite a bit about life at that moment and suggests what I believe, that it was simpler and kinder era in which to live . The Solari store is jammed and every person is dressed formally, in a suit and tie, women wearing hats and formal wear, the store, the employees (also formally dressed) and customers looking extravagant despite the fact that it was just a typical delicatessen of the day.
If "clothes make the man" then the environment then was a whole lot more pleasant than today. (yes, I admit I dress like a slob too) Look at any similar photo of a public gathering today and you will see, not only informality, but vulgarity and a lack of respect for others disp-layed in the manner of appearance and behavior. The selfishness of people today is manifested in contrast to the respect for others that one notices in the Solari photo.
When people care enough not to offend others, when they present themselves well even though it is less comfortable to do so, when society values impressions, it is a better society for it. That photo and many others I have seen remind me of how today we have become so indifferent and self absorbed. When one reads the letters and history of earlier generations the impression gotten is that people were more aware of their surroundings, whereas today we feel entitled to create our own personal environment in our own image, regardless of whether or not it is a better than the general one. It's the "we" generation of old versus the "me" generation of now. There must be many reasons for the changes in how society sees and presents itself. Perhaps greater the affluence gives us the freedom to be more selfish, or the surge of technology that allows us to escape others instantly makes us more self absorbed. Or am I making too much of the photo and other past views, forming an incorrect generalization? What do you think?